One More Dance
by onekisstotakewithmex
Summary: It was supposed to be for team bonding and boosting morale, but that wasn't the reason Leroy Jethro Gibbs agreed to hosting an NCIS formal dance. His reason was much more simpler: he was going to a formal dance with Caitlin Todd. He owed her a debt he'd never repay, and she'd never had a high school prom, but they still made it work. Kibbs, Tiva, set after s2
1. Chapter 1

Gibbs had gone into Abby's lab because she'd called and like always, he'd expected a lead. What he hadn't expected was for the lab to be dark, and for Abby to be hiding in the ballistics lab.

He walked in, and found her standing there, arms crossed, with a smirk on her face that told him everything he needed to know: he was in serious trouble of some kind. Not with her, necessarily, but anything that prompted such a smile was bound to mean trouble for the rest of the agency.

"What do ya got, Abs?" he asked.

"A problem, Gibbs. A big one."

"What, did ya overload the fuse again?" he asked, gesturing to the dark lab. "I can call maintenance, Abs, it's not a problem."

"No, Gibbs, it's not about my lab being dark. It's Kate." He blinked, and then frantically started thinking back to the last time he'd seen Kate… he'd sent her and McGee off on to chase down a lead, and she'd looked fine to him then. Unless she was telling Abby a different story. Was she okay? Was she hurt or sick somehow? His racing thoughts were quickly cut off by Abby. "Gibbs, I can hear your gears turning from here. Kate's fine."

He sighed, quickly, before shaking his head at her. "Then what is this about, Abs? And why'd ya have to scare me like that?"

"Well, Gibbs, you know how I left early last night?"

"Yes…" he said warily.

"It's because I was giving one of my neighbors a ride to their prom, because their car is in the shop and I'm a nice person, and so I was talking to Kate about the prom, and about the beautiful dresses and the awful food-,"

"I know that there's a point in there somewhere," Gibbs cut her off.

"Kate told me she never went to her prom!"

"And this concerns me how?" he asked in return.

She smirked, and he knew that he'd been right. Big trouble. "Kate missed her prom because she was _really_ sick."

He made a face. "Ew."

"Not my point, Gibbs. My point is that it's prom season, and prom is _such_ an important rite of passage, that it doesn't seem right that she should just miss it-,"

"What does this have to do with me?"

"You, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, are going to help me convince Director Shepard that we need to have a prom to promote team bonding and morale." She smiled at him.

"I'm going to _what_?" he asked, shocked, but not really. He should have known Abby would go for something like this. She was never one to shy away from shock value.

"And then, once you do that, I think you should ask Kate to go with you."

"Abs," he warned. "There is no way that Director Shepard will _ever_ possibly go for that. Ya know that."

"Do I?" she asked. "I have this little thing called optimism."

"Fine, but I'm tellin' ya, Abs… it's not happening."

"Well," Abby checked her watch. "You'd better go upstairs, Gibbs. I booked you a meeting with Jenny that starts in ten minutes. I texted her," she said in response to his incredulous look.

"Ya _what_?" he asked. "How?"

"I had McGee hack your phone."

"I'm gonna kill that stupid probie, for fallin' under your spell, Abs."

"You can't kill him, Gibbs. He probably has a future wife out there somewhere. It's not me, but there's gotta be someone."

Gibbs shook his head. "Ya owe me one, Abs." He turned to stalk out of the lab, trying not to picture Kate in formal wear. This led his brain to another, equally dangerous location. A prom, or formal dance of any kind, usually meant a date. And Abby had suggested he ask Kate.

"Gibbs!"

He turned. "What?"

"Stop acting like it would be terrible for you to go on a date with Caitlin Todd. In fact, I think you should be thanking me."

"If ya keep actin' like a spoiled brat, Abs, I swear-,"

She waved at him. "Just trust me, Gibbs. And did you honestly come to my lab without a Caf-Pow?"

"Nope, but ya aren't gettin' it now!" he called, heading out of the lab.

"Oh c'mon Gibbs!" she was calling as he got on the elevator. "You'll thank me one day."

He stabbed the floor button angrily. "I doubt that," he muttered. The elevator doors closed, leaving him wondering exactly how he was going to convince Director Shepard to do something even he didn't want to do.

 **XNCISX**

"I'm sorry, Jethro, what exactly are you asking me to do? I'm afraid I don't understand."

"That makes two of us," he muttered under his breath, before smiling – it was really more of a grimace – at her. "Director, when you added Ziva David to my team, surely ya noticed… growing pains?"

"Growing pains?" she asked.

"Yeah, Director. Ziva's brother tried to kill Kate, and put a bullet through my shoulder. I'd call that growing pains. They haven't… bonded."

"So you're suggesting that we try and ease them into some kind of mutual appreciation?"

"Yes, Director, that is exactly what I'm suggesting." _From the mouth of Abigail Sciuto to the Director of NCIS. And I'm just the messenger who's trying to not get shot._

"And you want to do this how?"

"A formal event. Sort of. Essentially a way for the team to get to know one another in a semi-formal setting. I believe they call it a prom."

Jennifer Shepard didn't laugh at Gibbs often, but she was currently standing in the middle of her own office, laughing her head off at Gibbs. "You're suggesting," she said, in between giggles. "That we somehow force your team to bond by making them attend a _prom_? Jethro, even for you, this is ludicrous."

"Well, Director, that's probably because it wasn't my idea."

"Really? Who- Abby."

He nodded. "Abby."

"And she convinced you to set up a meeting with me? The stakes must be high, I've never known you to make an appointment. Usually you just barge in." She wiped away the tears of laughter, before shaking her head at him. He knew it was leading up to a _no,_ so was surprised when she smiled. "I think it's a lovely idea."

"What?" he asked, not for the first time that day, and inwardly cursed Abby. Now she was getting him tangled up in her stupid scheme. Why exactly was he going along with it?

"Your team needs to have each other's backs. They can't do that if there are growing pains. A nice, friendly opportunity is… important. It promotes greater team bonding and boosts team morale, Jethro. It's a nice tagline."

"Sure thing, Director. Just one request."

"I might be able to grant it, depending."

"Please," and he was cringing inwardly. "Keep my name out of it."

"Jethro, there is no way I can do that. It's too suits will be having a field day if they hear that _you_ brought it to my attention."

He rolled his eyes. "Abby's idea, Director. She should get the credit."

"Well, I'm putting her in charge of organizing it, in that case. Now, if you don't mind, Jethro, I think I have more important things to attend to than the senior prom of my staff. I'll make an announcement later."

"Understood, Director. And I have a case to get back to." He left, without being dismissed, still wondering how the subject would be brought up among his team. Growing pains had been an understatement; most days he could barely prevent outright murder. As it was, Kate spent most of her free time in autopsy with Ducky, while Ziva haunted the bullpen. He didn't know what ran through Kate's head most days, but he knew it couldn't be good.

Could this be the key to fixing his team?

 **XNCISX**

They were all working on case reports when the news broke. Gibbs was staring at Kate's desk, currently occupied by Ziva. Kate was faster at finishing her case report and had already delivered it to Gibbs, before heading downstairs. Jenny made the announcement, and left them dumbfounded.

He was only sorry that he wasn't there to see Kate's face when the announcement came out. She had missed her prom, and for some reason, Abby had talked him into doing this for her. He needed a victory with her; they'd barely spoken since her near-fatal accident back in May. Only it was no accident. Maybe they'd both been keeping their distance on purpose, but here they were.

He stood, and felt three pairs of eyes on him as he walked out of the bullpen, intent on heading down to autopsy. He knew that's where Kate would be.

As soon as he got downstairs, he felt a shift in the atmosphere. Upstairs were barely controlled tensions boiling just below the surface. Here, it was relaxed, peaceful even.

Ducky stood. "Jethro, we weren't expecting you. Is everything quite all right?"

"Sure, Duck. It's all good. Uh, Kate, can I talk to ya?"

"Sure." She exchanged a look with Ducky, biting her lip.

Ducky noticed. "Allow me to step out, I do believe I needed to bring a sample to Abigail." He hurried out, leaving Kate and Gibbs standing a few feet apart in the autopsy suite.

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the announcement, would it?" she asked, and he smiled. She was an expert at fitting the pieces together, so of course she'd jumped right to the only logical conclusion.

"Yeah, Kate, it would. I wanted to ask ya somethin'."

She eyed him warily. "What?"

"Will ya go to the dance with me?" he asked, walking closer to her, and taking her hand. It wasn't the first time they'd held hands, but it was still surprising to her somehow. He could see it in her face. She hadn't been expecting this.

"What, like as a date?"

"Yeah."

"What about rule twelve?" _Ouch._ Fair enough, he should have been expecting that. He'd given her that lecture when she'd gotten a little too friendly, a little too nice towards him. He'd regretted it ever since, but it was the way things were.

"Kate, I think I owe ya one. Ya took a bullet for me, and it's about time I repayed ya."

"Gibbs, are you comparing going to a dance to taking a bullet for someone? Because you _might_ want to rethink that idea."

"Okay. Consider it my way of sayin' thanks. I don't know if I ever did thank ya, Katie, for savin' my sorry ass."

"You're welcome," she said, before letting go of his hand and walking away. He stood there, before running to catch up to her in front of the elevator.

"Is that a yes?" he asked, suddenly hopeful.

She rolled her eyes, but finally offered him what he thought had to be the first real smile he'd seen on her face since May. "Yes, Gibbs, I will go to this dance with you."

His grin was probably the last thing she saw as the elevator doors closed, and it was such a wide grin that his face hurt.

Damn the team bonding and the morale fixing, this was the real reason he'd agreed to it. He was going to a formal event with _Caitlin Todd._

Now he just had to not ruin it or die in the meantime. And he could work out what it all meant later. For now, he had a dance he had to get ready for.


	2. Chapter 2

"Kate! Are you done in there or do I have to come and rescue you?" Abby's voice cut through another one of Kate's endless spirals of downward thought.

"Abby, this is pointless." She leaned her head against the door to the changing room. "I'm not even going to go."

The gasp from the other side of the door sounded like it had come straight from a soap opera, and Kate dearly hoped she wouldn't have to resuscitate her best friend. "What do you mean you're not going to go? I already arranged everything! The menu, the venue… the seating!"

She raised her head for a second in confusion. "Abs, why do you need me there? You've got most of the agency coming! I doubt my appearance will make much of a difference." She hoped, in vain, that there was one person that it would make a difference for.

"And what about Gibbs?" Abby was clearly trying her best appeal.

"What about Gibbs?" she asked. Gibbs. Shit. She couldn't just- oh yes she could. He was likely used to being left, not that it made it any better. Oh but he probably would have Director Shepard to comfort him. Which instead of making Kate feel better, left a sour feeling in her stomach instead.

"You're his _date,_ Kate. You can't just abandon him!"

"Oh come on!" Kate opened the door of the changing room, regardless of her relative state of undress, but thankful for the empty store. Abby had brought them to a very expensive boutique on their lunch break. Kate crossed her arms and shot the most powerful glare in her arsenal (one she'd learned from Gibbs and built upon) towards Abby. "You know that he only asked me because I got shot for him right?"

Abby's jaw dropped. " _What_?" As if she could have forgotten.

Kate uncrossed her arms and gestured to the rather obvious scar, offering a stupid grin in response to Abby's confusion. "You see this? That's from when I jumped in the way of a bullet for Gibbs. And now he feels guilty and stupid, because he is a bastard, but he's also a noble idiot with a hero complex, and feels the need to repay me. So he asked me to this NCIS prom thing. Which by the way, I _totally_ know was your fault."

Abby looked nervous. "Um… what was my fault?"

"The prom, Abs. What else? Unless you're to blame for Gibbs asking me to, but I doubt even you would sink so low as to actually _encourage_ his hero complex." Kate missed Abby's guilty look when she turned to look at herself in the mirror. "Damn it, there is no amount of makeup in the world that can cover this up." She gestured at the scar again, and she rolled her eyes. "I guess it's not too bad."

"How many dresses are you going to try on?" Abby asked, and Kate closed the door on her.

"As many as it takes, Abs."

"Gibbs isn't going to care!" Abby called through the closed door.

Kate realized she was right, and her shoulders sagged in disappointment. "You're right," she sighed. Abby was right of course. Gibbs would be immune to her, whatever the hell she wore. Something about four marriages, three divorces meant that whatever any woman had to offer – even Kate – he would be immune to it.

"I am right… wait. Kate?"

"Yes?"

"You do know that Gibbs wouldn't care if you showed up in a garbage bag? I think he'd just be happy to see you."

"Obviously because he'll be repaying his debt, and he won't owe me anymore, Abs. I'm not stupid."

"Fine. Have it your way, even though you're obviously wrong. How many more dresses are you going to try on?"

"Only a few more." She looked through the dresses she'd pulled off the racks of the expensive dress store she was currently standing half-naked in, and frowning at each one in succession. As much as she'd tried to quash her crush on her boss (could it be called a crush if it was strong enough to throw herself in the way of a bullet for him?), this was going to test her willpower. She knew that this one date was going to be it, the one dance, and that was likely more thanks to Abby's machinations than Gibbs' real willingness and feelings for her to take her on a date, so she best make it memorable for both of them.

She didn't want him to be immune to her charms or her looks.

She wanted Gibbs' jaw to drop when he looked at her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Abby asked another question. She'd been babbling on about the venue for at least ten minutes, chattering about the Franklin Manor – the hotel – and how she'd had to wrestle it away from the Conrad Institute because they usually held all of their galas there, but she'd known one of them and gotten a good deal, but now she'd asked something. "Are you going to the after party?"

"There's an after party?" Kate asked skeptically.

"Kate," Abby sighed. "Do you actually know nothing about prom?"

"No. I missed mine, in case you've forgotten. Whose stupid idea was this prom anyway?"

"Mine."

"And why exactly do you feel like torturing your colleagues?"

"Kate, how many times have my ideas _actually_ been bad ideas?"

"I have a tattoo on my ass. That should tell you everything you need to know, Abs."

Abby giggled. "Okay, fine. I know that we haven't exactly been getting along…"

"We, Abs?"

"It's been a bit of an adjustment," Abby admitted. "What with…"

"Ziva. You can say her name, Abs. It's not a curse word." Kate thought about Ziva for a second, but immediately banished the thought from her mind. Bringing their new colleague into this conversation was more likely to hurt than help, and that was something she really didn't want to get involved in. She owed Ziva; she hated it, but she owed her.

"It's been awkward, Kate. I'm sick of awkward! I want us to have fun!"

"And forcing us to go through the trained-monkey routine is considered fun?"

"Yes. And so is the after party."

"And what's so exciting about the after party?" Kate asked, exasperated, almost falling over as she slipped into the dress. She wasn't expecting much, just another dud.

"For starters, there will be actual alcohol."

Kate rolled her eyes, thankful that Abby couldn't see her. "And that's exciting?"

"Considering there _won't_ be alcohol at the prom? I like to see it as a reward system. If you be a good Kate and go to prom with Gibbs, then I'll get you _really_ drunk."

"I'd rather you didn't." She leaned against the door again, cringing at the memory of the last time Abby had gotten her drunk. "All right, Abs, tell me about this after party. Are you hosting?"

"Technically, Ducky is. He rented us all a big old house in Virginia. It has _everything._ Pool, hot tub, fully stocked pantry _and_ bar… we're all going to spend the night there."

"And by _we,_ you mean the team?"

"No, Kate, I mean the FBI. Yes of course I mean the team!"

"And why is it so imperative that we all stay over?"

"Two words, Kate, my friend: team bonding."

"Damn it, Abs." She looked herself over in the mirror now that she was actually in her dress, and for the first time that day, liked what she saw. She tried to pull her hair back, to see what looked better, but made a face at her reflection. She only hoped that Gibbs agreed with her that it was a good luck. "Abs, I think I found a winner."

"Well, don't keep me waiting, you know I hate suspense!"

Kate grinned, and opened the door. And seeing Abby's jaw drop, made her really think that it might be worth it after all. Abby could only manage a wordless thumbs up, which let Kate know: Gibbs was going to love it.

And damn him if he didn't.

 **XNCISX**

Gibbs was nervously sitting in the car outside of Kate's apartment building. He was holding Kate's corsage (did people still do corsages for prom?) in its box, trying to ignore the way that his palms were sweating.

He always prided himself on being an upstanding, rock-solid Marine. And here was the truth. He was scared. Caitlin Todd, the woman he'd been in love with for nearly two years, the one who'd nearly died for him, was currently his date to prom.

He checked his watch again, feeling as though his heart was liable to give out at any time, especially if he went in and saw her in her dress. He was in trouble.

Knowing him, he'd probably do something stupid like pass out at the sight of her. It wasn't just that Caitlin Todd was in formal wear, but that she was in formal wear _for him,_ the most beautiful woman he knew tied up in a pretty bow of a dress, and completely, utterly _his._

At least for one night.

And wasn't one night enough for him? He was terrified that this one night would forever leave him craving more, wanting something that rule twelve and his own mistakes had forbidden him from having.

One night would have to be enough. He had to cherish every second, because it was only a set time frame. And once it was over, they would return to their regular lives, their normal relationship. They could pretend again that everything was normal.

He jogged the stairs up to Kate's apartment on the second floor, feeling himself growing more and more nervous by the second. And wasn't it just fitting, him being a teenage boy, and acting like a teenage boy, the night of the prom? He rang the doorbell, straightening his tie as best he could without a mirror to look into. All he knew about Kate's dress was that it was purple, and he knew that only because he'd coordinated his tie.

The door flew open, and there was Abby, looking absolutely regal in black. He was surprised that she hadn't coerced McGee into being her date. "Gibbs!" she cried, excited, grabbing his hand and tugging him in.

"Abs," he said with a nod. He wanted, in that moment, to thank her, but couldn't find the words.

"Kate is just finishing getting ready, she's in her room." Abby called over her shoulder, as he followed her into the living room.

"That's fine, Abs. I'm in no hurry."

She spun around suddenly, walking over and pointing a finger at him. "You better not hurt her, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. She's my best friend and if you hurt her-."

He pushed her finger away from where it was about to stab him, and tried a disarming smile, "Abs I'm not gonna hurt her. You know that."

"I do."

"Know what?" came a voice from the doorway, and Gibbs turned around. And it was like his heart dropped out the bottom of his feet, and Jesus Christ, was this actually reality? His mouth went dry at the sight of Kate, smiling at him.

She was an absolute vision.

He was really the luckiest bastard.

Her dress was a deep purple, billowing out into a full skirt, with a high waistline, and half sleeves, but her shoulders were bare, glowing in the light from the lamps. The colour made her look absolutely gorgeous and glowing. Diamonds sparkled in her ears, her hair loose around her face. She offered a winning smile, and he went to answer, but found he had no words.

Caitlin Todd was many things: a good agent, a loyal friend, and an intelligent and funny woman.

Tonight though, Caitlin Todd was _stunning._

He fumbled for words, and then held out the corsage box. "For you," he said, proud that he'd managed to scrape the necessary words together in her presence.

"Thank you Gibbs, it's beautiful." She slid the corsage onto her wrist, and then bit her lip for a second, before smiling at him, as if she knew exactly what he thought of her.

He held out a hand. "Shall we?" he asked.

"Why Agent Gibbs, I thought you'd never ask," she said, taking it with a smile.

Caitlin Todd was stunning, and even if it was just for tonight… she was _his._


End file.
